Several people have taken to social media to express fear those ants have taken up residence in their neighborhood. There is a similarity between the native thatching ant and the European fire ant. European fire ants where found in Naramata in 2013 and currently a working plan to eliminate the invasive species in that community is happening. Naramata is the only area in the interior of the province where the ant is found, as they prefer the wetter climate of the coast. The difference between an ant bite and a sting may not be apparent to most people. Fire ants (impressive fire ant) are tough to identify and many people confuse them with thatching ants which are native and tend to bite, not sting. Thatching ants are quite good for the environment especially by removing pests from trees, but their aggressive nature and fairly large size can cause concern for some people. To survive floods, fire ants have evolved the ability to form living rafts on the water, this colony of fire ants is rafting in a flooded field. The isolated rafts of ants had spread out and connected up, creating a living bridge across the water to dry land.
http://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/beneficial-ants-…ear-penticton-bc/
gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beneficial-ants-naramata-near-penticton-bc-randy-bilesky/?published=t